According to Senate 2 of the press council, the article “Shocking Video: Hamas showed hostage before execution”, published on 03.09.2024 on “OE24.at”, a minor violation of points 5 (personality protection) and 6 (intimate sphere) of the code of honor
The article reports that Hamas has published a video of a woman named in the article that was one of the six hostages whose corpses found in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip at the weekend and which, according to the Israeli military, had only been killed shortly before. In the video, which was referred to as the “shocking psychoterroric video” by the Forum of the Families of the Families and Missed, the woman urged the Israeli government to ensure the release of all hostages recorded in the Gaza Strip and called up the Israeli population to enforce this claim.
An X-Posting is embedded in the article in which the video can be seen. The woman is shown in it unpixeled.
A reader turned to the press council and evaluated the publication of the video as media ethically questionable. The publication fires the Hamas propaganda.
The media owner took part in the procedure. The editor -in -chief of “Oe24.at” stated in the negotiation that the editorial team had discussed whether the video should be published. Finally, they decided on the publication because the sister of the terrorist victim also published the video on Instagram, the suffering that the victim suffered, wanted to clarify and the hostage also transported a political message from Hamas. In addition, such video material is handled very aggressively in Israel. Pictures with the victim’s blood after his execution were deliberately avoided. The victim’s name was mentioned in numerous media, the editor -in -chief continued.
The Senate recognizes a correspondingly great public interest in reporting on the hostage and its murder. It is important and important for the general public to be informed about the crimes of Hamas. However, it is crucial how such reports are prepared and which image material is used for this. Despite the public interest in the incident, the personality protection of the now deceased hostage must be taken into account.
Even if the video with the hostage does not show its killing, the affected woman is in a forced and exceptional situation. She has been held hostage for almost a year and forced to present points of view in the video that promote the interests of the terrorist organization. At this point, the Senate points out that independent media should be careful not to be abused by terrorist organizations like Hamas as a propaganda tool.
The Geisel affected, which was held over a longer period of time and killed after the video list, was particularly vulnerable. According to the Senate, the video publication therefore violates personal protection and in particular privacy.
In principle, the spread of a video on social media does not justify that journalistic media also play the video one to one. Unlike social media, journalistic media affects the ethical obligation to conscientiously weigh and filter.
In the present case, however, the Hamas propaganda video was placed on Instagram by two nearby relatives, namely the sisters of the Geisel. In addition, the editorial team was discussed and – as the editor -in -chief emphasized during the trial, it was deliberately avoided showing pictures of the killing. After all, the topic of the Israeli hostages deported by Hamas is of great political importance.
Against this background, the Senate considers it sufficient in a specific case to determine a slight violation of points 5 and 6 of the code of honor (protection of the personality and the intimate sphere) and to pronounce a note.
Independent procedure based on a message from a reader
The press council is an association that is committed to responsible journalism and which includes the most important journalist and publisher associations in Austria. The members of the Senate of the Press Council are free of instructions and independent.
In the present case, the Senate 2 of the press council carried out a procedure due to a message from a reader (independent procedure based on a message). In this procedure, the Senate expresses its opinion whether publication corresponds to the principles of media ethics.
The media owner of “OE24.at” has made use of the opportunity to take part in the procedure.
The media owner of “OE24.at” recognized the arbitration of the press council.